When school is back in session later this month, Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies science teacher Taylor Fusinatto has her own unique summer camp experience to relay.

The fourth, fifth and sixth grade teacher spent a week in June at "space camp" — or more officially, the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy.

"I have so much to share. I really can't wait to get back," she said about the new school year, which begins Aug. 28 at Bessie Rhodes in Skokie.

Honeywell Educators at Space Academy officials say their aim with the camp is to "reignite a teacher's passions for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and encourage students to take a serious look at STEM careers."

According to the National Science Foundation, 80 percent of available jobs in the next several years will require some math and science skills.

Fusinatto said she was one of 200 teachers at the camp. More than 1,000 educators across the country and beyond applied for one of two sessions the camp holds in June, she said, adding that all costs were paid for by Honeywell.

Working in teams, teachers saw a high-performance jet simulation, undertook a new coding mission that required science, technology, engineering and math skills, simulated a space mission having to navigate different challenges, trained in land and water survival and participated in interactive flight dynamics.

Fusinatto said the teachers stayed at a dorm at the University of Alabama and started each day with a big communal breakfast of 200 people. Then there were lecture sessions featuring astronauts, engineers, scientists and others, she said.

"They were teaching us about rocketry and space science like we were students and then also the teachers' side of different experiences and lessons we could do to engage our students," she said. "Everyone was talking about what they loved about teaching and what they wanted to work on. It was invigorating."

Fusinatto was one of 16 members of a team during her week. They worked on various exercises and simulated scenarios, she said.

In one mock mission, Fusinatto's team launched one of the retired space shuttles to the International Space Station for a crew switch and to bring those there safely back to Earth. They went through launch to exchange to landing, she said.

Her role was in Mission Control as the only person who could communicate with the shuttle, she said. She had to relay information between the shuttle crew and the control center technicians and vice versa.

"It was really challenging, and that was the biggest piece that surprised us," Fusinatto said. "When you're going back and forth, it's not so easy. There were a lot of moving pieces, and I think it highlighted to all of us that there are skills beyond just studying and acquiring facts that we need to impart to our students to be successful in whatever field they pick."

She said she left the camp with renewed enthusiasm, which will "bleed into everything that happens in the classroom."

She also left the camp with a set of lessons and activities that can immediately be used in the classroom focusing on STEM and inquiry, she said.

An engineering project she plans to adopt from a teacher who attended space camp requires students to ship a single Pringles chip to other students, figuring out a way to keep the chip intact. The students who receive the chips then send feedback about the condition in which they were received.

Fusinatto is also excited about teaching students to build rockets — one of the hands-on lessons she experienced at the camp, she said.

"I've done a little bit with this in the classroom before but now I feel more confident with the model rockets because I got to play with them and learn from people who knew what they were doing," she said.

She said her experience at space camp exceeded her already sky-high expectations. Applying for the camp in November, where she wrote essays and filled out materials, was one of the best decisions she ever made, she said.

"If they had said 'no', I would have kept applying every year," the teacher said. "I was that excited and enthusiastic about it. They couldn't keep me out."